Tuesday, January 31, 2017

The element of fire is also an effective metaphor in
hypnotherapy. For many of us, fire
represents passion in an emotion: love, anger, hate, jealousy. It can also
symbolize dedication, enthusiasm, excitement, desire: “There is/I’ve got a fire
in my belly.” When an event or interaction triggers an emotional reaction, this
response may flare intensely for a little while until enough time has passed to
temper that initial interest. Until that happens, it can feel like a battle is
going on in our mind and heart to handle the sudden overload of feelings,
perceptions and reactions to control our behavior. Sometimes we win that
battle. Sometimes we do not.

Like fire, emotions can be and feel very powerful to
the point where we feel or literally become overwhelmed by their heat and
force. A tiny spark can smolder for hours, days or even years before erupting
into a conflagration. Similarly, perception of a thoughtless word or action can
dig into the subconscious mind and trigger an inexplicably hostile response (parataxic
distortion) that is more a reaction to a previous interaction than the
current one. Nonetheless, to stay consistent with the fire metaphor, once this
metaphoric match is struck the verbal and emotional explosion can feel
overwhelming to all parties involved.

I tap into metaphors for all four elements—water,
air,
earth
and fire—to inspire and encourage clients’ desire to change an unwanted
behavior while simultaneously reinforcing their strategies to control previous
automatic responses to behavioral/emotional triggers. Because the element of
fire can be so volatile, it is useful to reference the power and stability of
earth and the cool, reflective characteristics of water to reframe an emotional
reaction or response. Similarly, when a client needs extra motivation to change
that unwanted behavior once and for all, the energy of fire is ideal to
re-ignite the person’s dedication to achieving that goal.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a
certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with
honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

Monday, January 30, 2017

Air is all around us. It sustains us. It ensures life,
for without air (oxygen) we cannot survive. When we breathe, we take more or
less of it into our lungs and send the rich oxygen molecules throughout the
bloodstream to nourish every cell, tissue, organ and bone of the body. When we
are working or playing hard, we may gulp in deeper breaths more often. When we
experience extreme levels of stress, we sometimes forget to take in that air or
even breathe so quickly in shallow gasps that the oxygen doesn’t get where it
needs to be. Where would we be,
without air?

Consequently, I incorporate breathing exercises and
metaphors about air and filling the lungs in my hypnotherapy consultations.
Through teaching my clients how to breathe deeply and completely, I also
provide them with insight about the power of this action and air to relax,
comfort, reassure and carry them through a stressful moment. When we can
breathe normally, naturally and deeply, that is one less thing the physical
body needs to worry about during an unexpected crisis. The subconscious mind is
already pre-wired for fight or flight. However, breathing—filling the lungs
with air and sending the oxygen to the organs that need it in a fight for
survival—takes some of the pressure off: the mind knows it has what it needs for instant action. Breathing,
especially when we are breathing deeply, is a harbinger of relaxation. Imagine
a scene in nature, perhaps in a forest or at the beach. A gentle breeze is
blowing, rustling leaves in the trees above or pushing the hair behind or in
front of your face. You can see birds in the distance, floating on the air
currents that carry them for a few heartbeats before they need to flap their
wings again to stay aloft. And then they soar again, motionless, for a few more
heartbeats before they fly away.

Air also represents power, such as the strong Santa Ana
Winds that blow through the canyons in Southern California in late summer and
early fall. Sometimes these winds—this air—is destructive. A particularly
strong gust can knock down trees or utility poles; motorists often report
feeling buffeted by the force of a hard wind as they drive down highways. In a
sailboat on the ocean or a lake, however, a strong breeze is necessary to move
you across the water from one shore to another. However, if there isn’t a motor
in or on your boat if the wind suddenly stops, you can be stuck in the middle
of that lake or ocean for a long time until that breeze kicks up again.

Air is a metaphor for communication. We think
of radio transmissions coming across “the air-waves.” We need air (oxygen) in
our lungs when we speak or sing to project the sound or intensity of the
meaning we are trying to communicate to someone else. The flute, clarinet,
saxophone, etc. are all “wind” instruments that use our breath to create the
beautiful notes that we hear as the breath is exhaled. During hypnotherapy, I
sometimes have clients practicepower
breathingto forcefully expel
negative emotions or distressing/stressful associations with their breath,
followed by a slow, deep inhalation to restore a sensation of calm and feeling
centered.

Finally, air as a metaphor can alternately represent
various emotions and states of being. Expressions such as “I feel light as air!”
or “I’m floating on air!” are used to express extreme happiness or exuberance.
A sentiment such as, “The air is so thick/heavy in here, I feel like I can’t
breathe” suggests some kind of oppression. The experience or image or
suggestion of standing in an open field with the wide expanse of sky above your
head and rolling hills below your feet often evokes a sensation of freedom and
exhilaration. The desire to inhale a deep lungful of air and appreciate this
sensation is more often an automatic response than a conscious action. Finally,
when we are in a closed room or small space for a long period of time it is
easy to become panicked and want to move, but opening a window or door just a
crack is often enough to reduce that anxiety.

This is what air can do.

Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a
certified hypnotherapist based in Southern California. She graduated with
honors from the Hypnosis Motivation Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.

Friday, January 27, 2017

Every
now and then I like (and need) to take a few moments and remind myself about
what is really important to me, in my life. If you follow me on my Calminsense Hypnotherapy Facebook page you may have seen some of
these quotes before on this page, or will in the future. Many of these Quotes
of the Day are beautiful examples and illustrations of the work I do as a
hypnotherapist, so I will probably draw on them in future essays.

Thursday, January 26, 2017

What do you do when everything seems to go wrong in your day? I pondered
this question while driving home from the barn this afternoon when “Have a Nice
Day” by Bon Jovi came up on my playlist. It is so easy to internalize the
frustration and run the unending loop of self-recrimination or to blame others
when a plan doesn’t work out the way we plan or want it to.

Some people yell. Others get in their car and take a fast (and sometimes
reckless) drive in the hope of blowing off some steam. It is always tempting
and too easy to channel frustration and take it out on the next person you see,
such as give the barista at Starbucks® a hard time for getting your order wrong.
It is usually a little more challenging to just let go of your immediate (and
usually transitory) angst to focus on what is actually going right in your day.

The late Dr. John Kappas,
founder of the Hypnosis Motivation Institute,
used to include the following suggestion in many hypnotic scripts: I like it. It was (and is) a great
motivator when you are learning a new behavior, such as politely refusing
dessert after a meal to comply with your weight-loss program. Even when
something “goes wrong” or does not fulfill your expectations or desires, this
simple suggestion enables you to open your eyes to the opportunities this
inconvenience could yield. So, you burned the special meal you spent all day
preparing for that special someone? Yes, that is inconvenient and frustrating.
However, Dr. Kappas’s suggestion facilitated a new attitude and ability to see
an opportunity in the experience—a shared laugh or maybe even an impromptu,
very romantic picnic of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the living-room
floor.

So, someone cut you off on the freeway and prevented you from getting
off the highway at your intended exit? Once again, this new attitude of “liking
it” enables you to pass the negative emotion (frustration) and continue on your
way. Who knows, your unintended detour might steer you clear of a traffic jam
further up the road on your intended route that might have also added even more
time to your original journey.

Many of us have experienced a situation in which someone seems to be
taking out his or her frustrations on us. This person hasn’t learned the power
of Dr. Kappas’s nifty little trick of “liking it” and instead tries to feel
better by making things more difficult or awkward for others. That’s okay. You
can still turn the potentially unpleasant situation around by reminding
yourself that you like what is happening because it the situation is giving you
a new perspective/experience that you can learn and grow from. Then, as Bon
Jovi does in their hit song titled Have a Nice Day,
politely tell the person to have a nice day and walk away. It is impossible to
experience two opposite emotions at the same time: e.g., anxiety versus
relaxation, frustration versus optimism. Ultimately, saying and believing “I
like it!” and expressing a positive outlook and sentiments for others
enables you to improve the situation for yourself by finding opportunities
where someone else may only see obstacles.